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Throughout the world, governments are promulgating regulations that are intended to improve air quality. Some of these regulations affect the physical and chemical properties of gasoline. Consequently, refiners are under increasing pressure to reformulate their gasoline to be lower emitting when handled and combusted. These regulatory actions have also greatly reduced flexibility in the fuel formulation process. In many cases, refiners are attempting to reduce gasoline vapor pressure, sulfur, aromatic, and olefin content while simultaneously tightening distillation characteristics by removing butane and reducing the use of heavy reformate and FCC fractions. Because butane, aromatics and olefins can contribute substantially to pool octane levels, blending clean-burning gasoline with the required octane rating for acceptable vehicle performance can be difficult.

In July 2002, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers and the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association released the results of a 6-year, two-part vehicle fleet test program to determine the effects of methyl-cyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT®*) on vehicles equipped with state of the art emission control systems. Analysis of the data reports from this study shows that all of the vehicles met applicable emission standards, even though the fleet accumulated mileage under very severe conditions that accelerate degradation of vehicle emission control systems in excess of that expected from actual vehicle mileage. The study also demonstrated that gasoline-containing MMT had no adverse impact on vehicular emission control equipment.

SAE Paper 2002-01-2894 entitled, “The Impact of MMT Gasoline Additive on Exhaust Emissions and Fuel Economy of Low Emission Vehicles (LEV)” presents discussion and conclusions concerning the emissions from vehicles that accumulated mileage on gasoline with and without the fuel additive, methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (or MMT®). Although the authors of the paper express concern about use of MMT®, the data on which the authors rely are consistent with the results and conclusions from prior evaluations of MMT® which have found that MMT® is compatible with effective emission control system operation (1,2,3). All vehicles tested in the study met the emission standards for all pollutants that apply to the test vehicles in-use and analysis of the data show MMT® had no effect on fuel economy.